ok!! since mitsuru's idol story has been getting attention i thought as a longtime ra*bitsP who has analysed all their stories Way too much, i'd make a thread about how ra*bits imminent disbandment has been a theme since. well since enstars started tbh

first things first i would recommend reading both mitsuru's ( https://hakumai0907.dreamwidth.org/642.html ) and hajime's ( https://kona3678.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/hajime-shino-idol-story/) first idol stories from enstars 2 to get an idea for how ra*bits have slowly been drifting apart recently

secondly! this thread isn't really going to be about nazuna graduating or quitting being an idol since i think we all already know about that! although i may touch on it later

ok now to get into the actual thread! starting at the very beginning, the first thing to ask is Why was ra*bits formed in the first place? and the answer to that is simple: no-one else wanted them. since they had no-one else, they decided to stick together

to put it another way, ra*bits was formed out of necessity. at that time, they were a completely unknown unit, doing everything they could to survive at yumenosaki. this included using their cute looks to create a cutesy image that would stand out in the world of male idols

however as time went on, it became clear that every member of ra*bits was incredibly talented in their own right. nazuna is talented all-round as an ex-member of yumenosaki's previous top unit, mitsuru is often viewed as a prodigy/genius who excels at dancing and running-

hajime has an amazing singing voice and a natural tendency towards being "cute", and tomoya is a great actor and also very, very resilient and adaptable. ultimately, these unique talents are the biggest factor in the "ra*bits as a unit inherently cannot last" narrative

this isn't just in enstars 2!! in fact, the very first example of this was in tanabata festival, the fifth (yes) event in all of enstars. in this event, mitsuru was offered training to become a professional track athlete if he quit being an idol, something he declined

it was stated that becoming an athlete would be "better" for mitsuru's future and in purely pragmatic terms? yes it would. but when it comes to what mitsuru actually Wants, it's to stay being an idol with the unit he's come to love

something similar happened to hajime in love comedy. a more famous "cute" idol (who we'll come back to later) took a liking to hajime's cuteness and invited hajime to join his unit/agency (rhythm link). this would mean hajime would spend a lot less time with ra*bits

but it would also come with a lot of financial benefits, something hajime's family desperately needs, as well as greatly improve hajime's prospects as an idol

however, hajime still rejected the offer.

once again, a member of ra*bits turned down "bigger" and "better" opportunity for the sake of their attachment to ra*bits

one more!! in sweet halloween, hajime and tomoya had a disagreement about the direction they wanted to take ra*bits' image, with hajime coming up with the idea to crossdress (inspired by the "cute" idol mentioned above), but tomoya being vehemently against it

this led to tomoya having a bit of a crisis, realising how in the short time he'd been an idol, hajime had become so much more cute, confident, and focused. tomoya felt like he was lagging behind and drifting apart from hajime, having no idea which direction he wanted to go in

it should also be noted that tomoya doesn't want to be a "cute" idol. he loves ra*bits and knows that they initially had to be cute to survive at yumenosaki, but he doesn't want to have to stay that way forever

also interestingly in all of the above stories, both hajime and mitsuru see ra*bits separating one day as a definite possibility

in a slightly different vein, but still related to the theme of "ra*bits as a unit inherently cannot last", we also have the badboys gacha story. this one explored how as the members of ra*bits inevitably age, the unit's "cute" image will become impossible to maintain

they addressed this by saying that as they grow older, they might need to adopt a different image, and tried out a "cool" image as part of a photoshoot. nazuna also assured the first years that no matter what happens, they'll all be united as ra*bits forever

so!! i personally feel like akira has been teasing this theme and has wanted to explore it for a while, but hasn't really had the chance yet due to most of ra*bits' stories being focused on either them overcoming their lack of experience, or on nazuna's baggage with valkyrie

but there's still a definite feeling of ra*bits being formed out of necessity, growing to love each other while at the same time growing more experienced as idols, their talents driving them apart, but them still Wanting to be together because of how much they mean to each other

BUT... now we have enstars 2, which is more focused on the professional world of idols and the perfect opportunity to explore these themes further, as we're already seeing with mitsuru and hajime's idol stories!!

they both express concern about ra*bits slowly drifting apart and doing a lot more solo work now because they're all so Different to each other.. and this isn't helped by nazuna not being there as their anchor now

in particular, hajime once again brought up the "cute" idol guy who he's been working with sometimes now. i won't go into too much detail about him rn, but here's my doc i made about him a while ago https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZLp3_RgEMmuGicqbprl8t0zrFKX1G4hivqIidoyXVXY/edit?usp=sharing

i feel like if we're getting a 4th unit in rhythm link, it's very likely to be this guy since:
a) he's the only other rhythm link unit we know exists as of rn
b) his "girly" image is different to any existing enstars unit
c) he already has pretty big ties to ra*bits/hajime

it's also worth mentioning that this guy was first mentioned in a story from 2017 (sweet halloween) and has been brought up multiple times since

the introduction of this idol would be the perfect catalyst for an event where he once again asks hajime to join his unit, now that hajime working with him has been shown to be very well-received by fans

this could easily drive yet another wedge between the members of ra*bits and be the culmination of everything akira's been building up with them for all these years: a ra*bits disbandment angst event

do i want ra*bits to disband? of course not. do i think ra*bits will actually disband? also no, mostly because enstars 2 seems so desperate to keep every unit intact lol but also they love each other far too much for that and will find some way through it

but i think it will definitely be an interesting thing to explore and i'm wondering if it will happen one day!! thanks for reading this thread if you did and sorry i rambled so much. stan ra*bits